Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – Few high school wrestlers have won more than Solon seniors Bryce and Drew West.

You name it, the twin brothers have probably won it during their prep career.

The identical twins boast a staggering 360-6 career record and have combined for three state titles and six state medals.

With all the winning they have done over the past four season there is still one thing the West brothers haven’t done and it happens to be one of the things they want the most.

The brothers have never ended the season both standing on the top of the podium at the state meet. This is the season they plan to change that.  

“It was the goal but we haven’t really talked about it much,” Drew West said. “I would have thought we would have but, that’s the way it goes. It’s just more motivation.”

The Wests have come close to that goal each of the last three years.

Drew capped a 50-0 freshman season with a Class1A title at 106 pounds while Bryce was third at 113.

Bryce won Class 1A 120-pound titles each of the last two seasons while Drew was third in 2015 and runner-up last year.

Last year was the first time both Wests were in the state title matches as the brothers went a combined 107-1 with the lone loss coming for Drew in the 126-pound title match.

“It’s kind of weird,” Bryce West said of winning a title when his twin brother does not. “We both train hard, we work to be the best and get on top of the podium every year.  It’s an odd feeling but it gives us more motivation to get on top. To work harder with one of us losing it pushes the one that won it even harder. It just pushes us even more.”

Motivation and a workout partner are a couple of things the brothers have never been lacking.

Wrestling at neighboring weight classes their entire careers the brothers constant training together helped turn them into one of the most potent combos in the state.

Bryce and Drew combined to for a 304-4 record in three seasons at Highland before coming to Solon this season when their mother took a job as the nutrition director in the school district.

The addition of a pair of state champions bolstered the lineup for 2A second-ranked Solon but more than that it’s raised the level of competition at practice.

“Bring in two guys like that raises the intensity for sure,” Solon coach Blake Williams said. “Guys accepted them because they are just great kids. Other than great wrestlers they are great kids. They are quiet they don’t say a whole lot but they make up for that with what they do in the room. There is no doubt about that.”

The move to a new school and a higher class hasn’t slowed the Wests in the slightest this season.

Ranked the ninth best 120 pounder in the nation by Intermat, Bryce is 28-1 and ranked No. 1 in Class 2A.

His lone loss this season came to Class 3A top-ranked Brody Teske of Fort Dodge.

“Any match you lose is a lot of motivation,” Bryce West said. “You work to get to know what you did wrong and work on those things and get in better shape.”

Drew has matched his brother’s strong start going 28-1 and is ranked second in 2A at 126 pounds.

The lone loss for Drew came the same day as his brothers’ only loss of the season at a tournament in Independence to Intermat’s No. 5 120 pounder Malik Johnson of Christian Brothers College (Missouri).

The brothers entered the season with one career regular season loss between them so Williams wasn’t sure what to expect when both lost matches on the same day in December.

The second-year Solon coach couldn’t have been more impressed with the reaction.

“I was very impressed with how they handled it, they were disappointed but also just knowing that it is only going to fuel them,” Williams said. “They came off the mat they didn’t throw a fit or anything you could tell they were definitely disappointed. Towards the end of the tournament after they had time to reflect they know what is the kind of stuff that is going to make them better. No doubt about it.”

The brothers have a chance to a few more accomplishments to their career resumes starting on Saturday in their first go-around at Solon’s Ed Hadenfeldt Invitational.

Then comes the postseason where the West’s will try go after their double title goal while attempting to help Solon to a 2A team title.

“An ending like that, it would mean a lot,” Drew West said. “Especially to end it like that in our senior year.”